


“Bother Figure”

by TransBoyFanBoy



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Caregiver! Ray Holt, Cute, Fluff, Gen, Jake calls Holt dad, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pacifier - Freeform, Platonic Relationships, The team mocks jake, but they mean well, ddlb, little!Jake Peralta, platonic caregive/little relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 00:14:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17213504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TransBoyFanBoy/pseuds/TransBoyFanBoy
Summary: "If it wasn't bad enough that he had he slipped up by calling his superior "dad" in front of the entire precinct, thus risking the exposure of his little side, he had added to it by inadvertently signing his own social death warrant."ORJake, in an in-between headspace, slipped up and called Holt "dad" at the office; Holt didn't mind one bit.





	“Bother Figure”

**Author's Note:**

> Word Count: 3,798
> 
> Little Jake and platonic caregiver Holt has me weak. I hope you enjoy!

   Jake knew that he should have stayed home that day. 

   From the minute he woke up, he stressed about losing his apartment and about how his job no longer provided enough money for him to pay off all of his bills. He had felt dangerously close to his headspace that morning, but had decided in the end that he had to fight through it in order to earn money.

   Don't misunderstand, Jake loved his job wholeheartedly; he had never wanted to do anything more than help people for a living. It was his passion—sometimes, though, it didn't pay the bills. He wouldn't say that it wasn't his own fault, because he knew that it was. Had he been more responsible with his time and money, he would have easily been able to meet the deadline for the water, phone, electricity, and utility bills. Needless to say, he lacked that self-control. Now, it was coming back to haunt him.

   As he clocked into work that morning—late again—he was met by Captain Holt. The man immediately scolded him for being ten minutes late as he pointed to his watch, and Jakew held back a grimace as he added 'job security' to his list of worries. He plastered on a smile, however, and settled down at his desk. He sighed as he dug through his cabinetsk for the file of incomplete paperwork. As he pulled it out and practically slammed it onto his desk, his mind drifted back to his infamous day at work two weeks prior.

—————————

"Oh hey, Captain. Did you get my report on the Finley murder?"  Jake asked, pulling his attention away from the perp sitting in the chair across from him.

"Uh yeah, I looked it over: nice work."  Jake grinned internally at that and spoke without thinking.

"Good. Thanks, dad... why is everyone staring at me?"

—————————

   Jake had been humiliated, and quickly tried to defend himself. Instead of making the situation better, he made it worse. When Holt had bluntly asked Jake whether or not the younger man considered him to be a father-figure, Jake had dug the hole deeper by responding with a childish, "No, if anything I see you as a bother figure, 'cause you're always bothering me!" He had smiled slightly to cover up his embarrassment at the time, but it his mediocre comeback did nothing to deflect the shame he felt looking back on it. It certainly did nothing to stop the teasing that had carried on almost daily since the event.

   The team didn't mean anything by it, which Jake knew; they were just trying to have some fun. What they didn't know was how insecure the taunting made him feel. If it wasn't bad enough that he had he slipped up by calling his superior "dad" in front of the entire precinct, thus risking the exposure of his little side, he had added to it by inadvertently signing his own social death warrant. They teased him mercilessly, and whenever he tried to make a witty snapback, one of his coworkers would simply respond by mentioning how his "dad" would feel about Jake making those kinds of jokes. Even Amy had joined in at this point. 

   It had quickly become too much for Jake to handle. He hadn't allowed himself to regress since the incident, and before it happened it had alread been almost a week without regressing. He was on edge constantly. He believed that there was no break for him; between the mocking, his financial issues, and his lack of another coping mechanism, Jake was feeling incredibly vulnerable. He was inbetween headspaces at best that morning, and he knew it. There was nothing he could do besides wait for the thing that would push him over the edge of that cliff.

   He began working on the numerous forms littering his desk. He couldn't convince himself to give his full effort today, so he slowly trudged through report after report until Rosa came up to his desk. 

"Jake, what would Captain Holt say if he saw how sloppy and amateur your work is? Daddy wouldn't be happy, would he?" She smirked as she spoke.

   The precinct erupted into fits of childish giggles. Even Boyle, who was supposedly on Jake's side a couple of weeks ago, hid a chuckle behind his hand. 

   And there it was: the wind that blew the car off the cliff.

   Jake stood abruptly from his desk and kept his head down as he pushed throuhh his coworkers to Holt's office. Tears burned his eyes, but he refused to let them out yet. As soon as the door to Holt's office closed, he locked the door and closed the blinds. Then, he let the tears out.

   He cried silently at first, but the whimpers quickly grew in volume until it was likely audible in the main office. He had yet to look up yet, but Jake could feel Holt's intense stare as he struggled to regain control over his emotions. He heard shuffling as the Captain stood up, and a shadow appeared over him as he faced the floor. A strong, sure hand reached down and gently rubbed Peralta's back in soothing motions; Jake melted into the touch, dangerously close to slipping into his headspace.

"I know you may feel embarrassed when you hear this, but there is no need to worry. I would just like to say that I have known for a considerable time about your regression. I figured it out soon after we met, truthfully, but I do not plan on telling anyone." Peralta looked mortified and cried out softly. Holt sighed quietly.

"Jacob, we can discuss this further at a later time. For right now, I can tell that you are distressed; it is okay for you to let yourself go. You can slip if you need to. I promise that I will not judge you for anything that happens." Holt's hands continued rubbing circles on Jake's back as the boy finally let himself slip.

His sobs were reduced to sniffles in a matter of minutes, and he finally mustered up the courage to look up at Holt with bloodshot, puffy eyes. The man met his gaze and smiled softly. Jakey's eyes widened.

'I've never seen him smile before!' He thought in awe. 

His breaths were shaky as he finally calmed down, and against his better judgement, he reached out to Holt; he didn't know the potential consequences in this headspace. He made grabby hands for the man, and Raymond picked him up with some effort before he took his place back in his chair behind the desk. The man cooed softly as he noticed Jake's watery eyes still on him. He shifted the boy in his lap so that Jake's head rested against his broad chest, the regressed man's ear in the perfect spot to listen to the Captain's heartbeat.

"You have been through a lot over the past few weeks, huh, Jacob?" The man crooned lowly.

Jake nodded his head slightly as he brought his thumb up to his mouth. Holt saw the action and calmly removed the boy's thumb from his lips.

"Germs, Jacob." His subordinate gave a perturbed whine at the correction and chewed his lip harshly.

Jake was by far in his youngest headspace at this point, most likely around an early one-year-old headspace. Usually, he stayed a rambunctious three or four year old when regressed; he only got this deep after a long withdrawl from little time, or when he was extremely stressed. Jake believed it was fair to say that both factors played a part in his younger mindset this time, but he couldn't communicate that even if he wanted to. In fact, all the boy could focus on was the steady thumping of Captain Holt's heart. 

He relaxed further into the man's chest, but tensed slightly when Holt picked up his phone. He dialed some numbers and waited for whoever was on the other line to answer. A few quiet words were spoken, but all Jakey picked up were the words "chew", "suck", and "key" before the man hung up.

He soon came to realize who was on the other line as the door unlocked slowly and Terry slipped in. The sight in front of Sarge was surprising, definitely, and he couldn't say that he wasn't confused, but he didn't ask any questions as he handed a paper bag to Holt. Jeffords promised that he wouldn't say anything about whatever it was that he was seeing before he left, relocking the door behind him.

Jake watched curiously as Holt pulled something out of the paper bag, and he squealed as he noticed a Ring Pop being unwrapped. He couldn't comprehend much in this state of mind, but he knew sweets when he saw them, and he wanted that Ring Pop so badly in that moment. Raymond threw away the wrapper and handed the candy over to Jake, who immediately latched onto it and suckled on the sweet treat contently. His muscles unclenched fully as he melted into Holt's chest.

   Although Holt was aware of his subordinate's regression before that day, he found himself a little surprised at how well-behaved and compliant the boy was. Given how Jake acted while in his regular headspace—bratty and mischievous—Holt had assumed that those behaviors would transfer at least partially into his littlespace. 

   The more he thought about it, though, the more he could see why Jacob would be the exact opposite of how he normally is. Truthfully, there could have been many reasons for his need for approval; Raymond's first thought was the issues that Jake had with his father. 

   It was clear to anyone who took a second to look into the curly-haired man's past that his father was a major source of stress for him. First, there was the fact that he knew about his father's many affairs. Then, there was the divorce that left Jake fatherless throughout the rest of his childhood. Even now, his relationship with his father was strained at best. It made sense to Holt that Jake would have an intense need to please and be praised; he had grown up with half the affection of what a normal child would have received. He was being good either because of his seemingly infantile headspace or because he wanted someone to praise him—to be there for him as his actual father never had been.

   It was obvious by the way that Jake absolutely melted into Holt's chest that the boy was in desperate need of love. Thankfully, Raymond felt that he could provide some form of that for Jake. He leaned forward and used a hand to hold Jake's head to his chest as he logged onto his computer. He played some soft music for children through the computer's speakers, and leaned back again. 

   Jakey's eyes felt heavy as he finished the Ring Pop, his tongue now stained a bright shade of blue. He let his eyes slip shut as he listened to the lullabies and clutched Holt's crisp, white shirt. The base of the ring pop fell out of his mouth as there was nothing else to suck on, but Jake only brought his hand up to his mouth again and suckled on his index and middle fingers. Raymond thought about correcting him as he had earlier, but decided to let the boy be for now; he didn't want to give Jake more sugar than that Ring Pop, but he didn't exactly have a replacement item with him in the office.

   He kept the music playing softly until the younger man went completely limp in his arms. Then, he shut off the music and tried to complete some work. He found it rather difficult to work around the fully grown man's body, but somehow he managed to complete a large chunk of what he needed to. Feeling satisfied with his accomplishments that day, he decided that he would leave early and take Jacob back to his home. 

   He wasn't quite sure where the man's apartment building was, but he refused to let any of the other employees take him home. Not only was the man in his arms likely to wake up still in a vulnerable headspace, but Holt was still quite angry with the team because of the continued teasing. Unlike the rest of them, Raymond could see the negative effects that the playful jeering had on Peralta. 

   Logically, he knew that he shouldn't be mad at the team for this; it was what they had always done. However, this had gone on longer than many other jokes. Besides that, Holt had a certain soft spot for the young detective that made him want to protect the man from ridicule. Perhaps it was the fact that he knew Peralta viewed him as a father figure, or something else, but Holt needed to make sure that Peralta was looked after and tended to, always.

   He once again called Jeffords into his office and asked about Jake's address. Sarge was quick to tell him as he looked down at the sleeping man in Captain Holt's lap. He couldn't help but find something about the younger man's demeanor quite peaceful, and he smiled slightly at the thought of it. He left after a few more seconds, and called everyone into the briefing room for an "emergency meeting". In actuality, Jeffords had nothing to say to the team that couldn't be saved for later, but he figured that he would help Holt out however he could—it would be much easier to carry a sleeping Jake out of the building without the curious eyes of the entire team on them.

   Holt noticed the bullpen empty of people and smiled to himself as he silently thanked Sergeant Jeffords. With a lot of effort, the older man stood up Peralta in his arms and shifted the man's weight to his hip. The sleeping boy nuzzled his face into Holt's neck as he sucked more harshly on his fingers and scrunched up his face in his sleep. Holt swiftly carried him to the elevator and down to the car garage, thanking the NYPD for making his reserved parking spot so close to the elevator. 

   He huffed as he settled Jake into the passenger seat of his car and buckled the man in. He got in himself and started the car, pulling out of the parking garage and onto the busy streets of New York quickly. He told himself that Jake could get his own car the next time he came into work. He listened as the news played clearly through the radio and focused on driving to Peralta's building. 

   Once they arrived, and Holt decided that he couldn't carry the boy again without injuring his back, he gently woke the younger up. He was clearly still in his headspace as his whined about being woken up, but he seemed more coherent as time went on. They stepped out of the car, and something in Holt told him that he needed to grab the detective's hand to keep him safe. He did so, and Jake's cheeks flushed slightly as he followed the man up the stairs to his apartment.

   He asked Jake for the key to his apartment and unlocked the door once he had it. Immediately, he deemed the environment unfit for anyone to live in, let alone the child that Jake was in that moment. He led Jake inside anyways and asked the boy to show Holt to his room. 

   He opened the door and went straight to the boy's closet. He found a duffle bag on the top shelf and pulled it down.

"Would you like to help me pack your bag, Jacob?" Holt asked kindly.

Little Jakey was confused.

"Where goin'?" His speech was slurred and broken, and his voice was slightly higher than normal. 

"I am going to take you to the house that Kevin and I live in; this is no place for children to be." Jake blushed again out of embarrassment, but he nodded and went to help Holt pack.

   They started with the essentials, and packed up all of Jake's clothing and hygiene products. Jake didn't know it yet, but there was no way that Holt was going to let him come back to this apartment now that he knew how unsafe and dirty it was. 

   Then, they moved on to the other items Jake wanted to take with him. The boy scampered over to his closet again and pulled out a decently-sized box labeled "secret stuff" and brought it over to Holt proudly.

"Did it myselfs, Cap'n!" Jake spoke excitedly, and Holt responded to him in a proud voice.

"Very good job, little one. I am proud of you!" Jake absolutely beamed at the words as he opened up the box.

   Inside, there were miscellaneous children's items. From what Holt could see, there were a few adult pacifiers, a lot of infant and toddler-oriented toys, a pair or two of shortalls, some shirts with childish prints on them, and a bottle. As he unpacked the box, he saw more stuff: a soft-looking blanket, about four different sippy cups, an old-looking stuffed bunny, a pack of pull-ups, and a few diapers. Jake's cheeks heated up at the last few items, as he was embarrassed about some of his little things, but Holt didn't show any signs of repulsion. He took that as a good sign.

   They stuffed the little items in another, smaller duffle bag before leaving the apartment. Holt gave the regressed boy the lighter, smaller bag to carry so that he could still hold the boy's hand and so that Jake would feel helpful.

   The two of them put the duffles in the backseat of Raymond's car and got back in. Holt buckled Jacob's seatbelt again and started driving to his house as Jake babbled on about random topics until he got to one that made him pause.

"What was that, Jacob?" Jake repeated what he said.

"Said big Jakey gonna lose his 'partment 'cause he didn't pay da money!" Jakey said casually as Holt frowned.

   He decided to have that conversation later, once Jake was in his regular mindset again. For now, he just wanted to get the boy comfortable in a safe place.

———————————————

   The two had been at Holt's house for about three hours. Raymond had finished unpacking all of Jake's items into the guest bedroom while the younger boy played with a few of his toys on the floor, patiently waiting for Holt to finish.

   When they had gotten there, the first thing that Holt had done was pick out some more appropriate attire for Jake to change into; he sent the boy into the restroom with a white shirt with multi-colored dinosaurs on it, a pair of white shortalls, and a pull-up just to be safe. The younger had denied that he needed one because he was a "big boy, Cap'n", but Holt just told him to go change so that he could play with his toys. The boy had raced into the bathroom at the promise of playing, and had ome out a couple minutes later with the outfit on. Holt handed him a light green pacifier and set his toys out of the floor. 

   After a while of him playing, they ended up going downstairs to the informal living room, where Holt turned on the television for Jake to watch. He flipped through the channels until Jake made a noise of protest, and Holt stopped where he was. The show on the screen made no sense to him whatsoever—just a show about three cartoon bears—but Jake seemed happy with it and Raymond liked it when the younger was happy. 

   He heard Jake's stomach growl and stood up from the couch. He walked into the kitchen and prepared a simple sandwich with a side of orange slices. The boy frowned when he saw the fruit, but ate the meal anyways and went back to the show.

—————————————

   A few hours later, it was time for Jake to go to bed. The boy was starting to get fussy and Holt knew that it was partially because he hadn't been getting enough sleep these past few weeks. He picked the boy up again and struggled to carry him up the stairs. It wasn't that Jake was particularly heavy, but Holt was not as strong as he had once been, and carrying a fully-grown adult was difficult for him. Sometimes, he even had trouble lifting Cheddar up when he stubbornly refused to get off of Kevin and his bed in the mornings.

   Nonetheless, he eventually made it to the room Jake would be staying in, right down the hall from his own, and he settled Jacob in bed after making sure that he changed, brushed his teeth, and used the bathroom. He tucked the boy into bed and Jake smiled sleepily at the older man.

"T'ank you, Daddy..." Jake's voice was soft as he said it, laced with sleep, and Holt paused for a moment before smiling down at him.

"Of course, little one. Sleep well."

   With that, he left the room. He kept the door cracked open so that the light from the hallway would keep the boy from getting scared at night. With a sigh, he got himself ready for bed. Then, he flopped into his bed and called Kevin, who was away on a business trip. When his husband answered, Raymond smiled serenely.

"Kevin, he finally did it." He said softly into the phone, and Kevin's voice was light as he responded.

"That is great news, Ray. I am happy for you." 

   He and Kevin had discussed Raymond's thoughts about Jake's regression, and how the boy had called Holt "dad" a couple of weeks earlier. They had both agreed that the regression was beneficial to him, and that if anything were to happen, Holt and Kevin—if Jake allowed—would care for him when he got small. Holt was a little disappointed that this was happening while Kevin was away, but he knew that it was probably best to get Jake acclimated to being little around just one person before introducing a second. 

   The two of them chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up, and Ray let his mind wander as he closed his eyes.

   He couldn't wait to see what happened next with this new development, and he hoped that Jake would allow him to give him the care he so obviously needed and deserved. 

He cared for Jacob, truly and deeply, and would do most anything to see him happy.


End file.
